France made the worst defence of the World Cup by any reigning champions in the history of the tournament.

Coach:Star player:

Roger LemerreDavid Trezeguet

OK then… who predicted France would finish bottom of Group A without scoring a goal?

Not me, that’s for sure. Like most people, I had France down as one of the tournament favourites but how the mighty have fallen.

Sure, they had injuries – most notably to Zinedine Zidane, who missed the first two matches with a thigh strain – but France should have had enough class to cope with his absence.

If losing to Senegal in the opener was a blow, things did not get any better with Thierry Henry’s red card in the next match against Uruguay.

Even then I still fancied them to recover against Denmark, but it was not to be. Clearly the Gods weren't smiling on them, particularly David Trezeguet who hit the woodwork twice.

It seems time has caught up with the French. Too many of Roger Lemerre’s team were the wrong side of 30 and it will be interesting to see which players France use to try and defend the European Championship in 2004.